1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telephones and, more specifically, to telephone ring tones.
2. Background of the Related Art
Telephones, including landline, cellular, and Internet-based phones, typically provide an alert to indicate an incoming phone call. The most common incoming call alert type is an audible alert (colloquially referred to as a “ring tone”), although visual alerts and vibrations, either separately or in combination, are also commonly used to indicate an incoming call. Technology has enabled a wide range of sophisticated, manually user-selectable audible alerts. For example, polyphonic ring tones, musical sound clips and even user-created audible alerts are among the commonly available audible alerts.
Despite the plethora of alert options, missed calls remain a problem. One cause of missed telephone calls is the difficulty of hearing an audible alert due to ambient sound, sometimes referred to as ambient noise or background noise because of its ability to interfere with hearing the audible alert. Familiar examples of ambient sound sources include a nearby television or radio, road noise in an automobile, a crowd at a sporting event, or music at a concert. Visual alerts and vibrations can be helpful, but do not eliminate the potential for missed calls due to ambient sound. For example, a visual alert may go unnoticed if the phone is not in view, and even a vibrating alert may be unnoticeable in a noisy environment or during physical activity.